A – Haiku

It’s the first letter

the beginning not the end

“A” is not the last

__________

A – Angry Doodle

__________

A – Saying

“Remember when you were a little kid and Mom used to tell you, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away?” And then remember when you became a snotty teenager and you told Mom she was an idiot? Well, turns out Mom was wrong, and you were right!”

“A team of researchers recently set out to see if the old apple rhyme actually held any water. After looking at over 8,000 participants, their study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, provided no statically significant proof that an apple a day actually leads to fewer doctor’s visits.

“What researchers did uncover, however, was that apple eaters were “marginally more successful at avoiding prescription medications” than non-apple eaters. “Evidence does not support that an apple a day keeps the doctor away,” the study’s authors concluded, “however, the small fraction of US adults who eat an apple a day do appear to use fewer prescription medications.” Hopefully, Republicans are paying attention: Encouraging people to eat more apples might be a great Obamacare replacement.”

“God has created the world as one—the boundaries are marked out by man.”

Earth’s soil fertilized

artificial poppies grow

in human blood, bones

* * *

Fallen in battle

It’s time for falling in love

Soul’s soil fertilized

Sea of Ceramic Poppies, Tower of London, England

The exhibition entitled Blood Swept Lands And Seas Of Red, is the work of Derbyshire-based ceramic artist Paul Cummins, and was set up to Commemorate the 100 years since the beginning of the First World War Each poppy representing each British and Commonwealth death during the conflict.

Retirement Dawns

in the dusk of my life

The moon lights the way

Someone asked, with concern, how I was feeling about my impending retirement. Sounded a bit like my impending demise! I am actually feeling a bit of relief and am preferring to think of it as re-treading as opposed to retire-ment!

“Thou Shalt Not Whine”is a hand embroidered sign in my office that was given to me by my good friend Sharon.

I do try to live up to that motto but today I am whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiining. I have a headache, my body aches all over, my feet are burning, my brain is fogged and the only energy I had was depleted by the effort it took me to get in bed and take a nap*. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Woe is me! Oh! woe is me!

“I’m not lissssssstening”

Like all (or many) of us living with chronic conditions the key is life-style management to keep the symptoms at a low simmer instead of a rolling boil. In the last several decades I’ve perfected life-style management:

judy’s Life-Style Management

Overdo it quick

take advantage of the lull

then crash, moan and groan.

Whimper quietly

when no one is listening

It’s free therapy

Did whining make me feel better? Nope. But it’s nice to know that even if I’m not feeling well

my inner child is alive and kicking.

*You don’t have to wash your hands after reading this post. I’m not contagious. It’s just fibromyalgia letting me know who’s in charge.

International Dot Day? How cool is it to celebrate the DOT! It’s celebrated on September 15th and it’s all about encouraging kids to discover how they can make a difference. I didn’t know this until I read Mama Cormier’s last post!

Peter Reynolds, The Dot

I wish I had this wonderful picture from Mama Cormier’s students for my “branch” post! Is this a perfect picture to go with the branch haiku . . . or what!!!!

*“A fundamental teaching of Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Baha’i faith, is the oneness of the world of humanity. Addressing mankind, He says: “Ye are all leaves of one tree and the fruits of one branch.”

I’ve not been feeling very well lately and no longer know which comes first – sugar or my symptoms. Ultimately it makes no matter for I know that sugar is not good for me.For the next month I’m going to ATTEMPTto keep refined sugar and it’s “carrier” white flour at least 10 feet from my lips. (I was going to say mouth but I need those extra inches for safety.)

Instead of buying candy I been saving my allowance for Summer Camp–Carla Sonheim’s Summer Art Camp. As you might have guessed by now I LOVE Carla, her classes and emphasis on having fun with art. The first camp assignment is drawing 3 crabs (better than 12 princes!) with non-dominant hand and then a water-color of sea shells (to come).

Crabby judy!

Deep Fried Crab Haiku

Used to be hard-shelled

Age has marinated me

Now I’m a softy*

*Soft-shell crab is a culinary term for crabs which have recently molted their old exoskeleton and are still soft.[1] This means that almost the entire animal can be eaten, rather than having to shell the animal to reach the meat.[2] The exceptions are the mouthparts, the gills and the abdomen, which must be discarded.[3] The remaining, edible part of the crab is typically deep fried.[2] Wikipedia

Rats! George Clooney is off the market! I rarely write about celebrities but Clooney is an exception. I was in love with him before he was famous. He played detective James Falconer on the TV show Sisters in 1993. I didn’t have a clue who he was. I only watched the show to see him.

Here’s a tiny preview. Click on the title for the entire fascinating article (well, at least I find it fascinating):

Let’s Face It

In a Dove soap video“. . . a small group of women are asked to describe their faces to a person whom they cannot see. The person is a forensic artist who draws pictures of the women based on their verbal descriptions. A curtain separates the artist and the women, and they never see each other.”

“Before all this, each woman is asked to socializewith a stranger, who later separately describes the woman to the forensic artist. In the end, the women are shown the two drawings, one based on their own description, the other based on the stranger’s description.”

“Much to their amazement and delight, the women realize that the drawings based on strangers’ descriptions depict much more beautiful women. The video ends: “You are more beautiful than you think.”’

“The evidence from psychological research suggests otherwise! Instead, we tend to think of our appearance in ways that are more flattering than are warranted. This seems to be part of a broader human tendency to see ourselves through rose-colored glasses. Most of us think that we are better than we actually are — not just physically, but in every way.”

“Dove’s premise is wrong. But thinking we are more beautiful than we really are may not be such a bad thing.”

“Giraffes are the tallest land animals. A giraffe could look into a second-story window without even having to stand on its tiptoes! A giraffe’s 6-foot-long neck weighs about 600 pounds.The legs of a giraffe are also 6 feet long. The back legs look shorter than the front legs, but they are about the same length.”

“There is only one species of giraffe. The recognized subspecies include reticulated, Nubian, Uganda or Baringo, Masai, Angolan, and southern. The different kinds can be recognized by their spots and also by where they live in Africa. Masai giraffes, from Kenya, have spots that look like oak leaves. Other kinds have a square-shaped pattern that looks like the giraffe is covered by a net. Some zoologists think that the giraffe’s pattern is for camouflage.”

“Both male and female giraffes have two distinct, hair-covered horns called ossicones. Male giraffes use their horns to playfully fight with one another.”

Like this:

Thanks to all of you that PRIVATELY sent me e-mails asking if I’m ok after my last Haiku post. (For those who just want a follow-up haiku, you’ll have to scroll down to the end . . .)

When I write or paint I just plunk it down – whether it be words or paint. I plunk rather quickly and only sometimes go back and tweak. If it takes more than tweaking a word or two, a painted area or so I just delete, or discard. I call it the creative process. It’s possibly ADD!

When I wrote the Bridge haiku, as per my usual, I just wrote – counting on my figures not to exceed the 17 syllables – of course!

I was too tired to take the timeto sit back and reflect because I had been at my office all day, and evening, sitting and back reflecting on what all my clients were feeling!

Haiku #1 for me is just a fact: Hey! We are all just in the NOW, even if we keep trying to get here by meditating, reminding and unwinding it’s all in the now.

Silently waitingstraddling my future and pastknowing only now

Our human orientation of “waitingfor something in the future – a trip, a cure, an event, a different feeling . . . or dwelling on past hurts, loves, hopes . . .. Our thoughts rush ahead or dredge up “past nows” while we remain in the present nanosecond.

We can’t be anywhere else except in the now.

Haiku #2: This one’s a bit tougher. I have had – have – relationships in my life that are very important, very close and are no more – relatives, friends, colleagues, clients, pets, through death, separation and time. All reside only in my memory . Memory is only “human bridge” I’m conscious of while on this earth.

Connections broken

Don’t talk to me of bridges

know I am alone

My belief is that being human is a striving for connectionthat comes from an inner longing for connection to pure, “unconditional” love. A yearning so deep that it drives us to behaviours and choices that can create pain which then creates more yearning (and fear of loss). Not sure if I’m making sense?

It’s deeper for me than an intellectual understanding. It generates from My Baha’i belief is that our human journey is about loss and detachment. Detachment, disconnection, from earthly “things”, people, places, labels, longings and experience connection to God’s unconditional love.

Un-Haiku #3:

Connections broken

Don’t talk to me of bridges

know I am alone

with God.

Nothing more or less

Not for me to understand

just believe

It’s called faith

Haiku #4: Can’t say that my faith is so deep it totally sustains me. It doesn’t.

I went to a park. I met some very nice Human Beings who petted me. There were some other Canine Dogs there too. I sniffed a lot of them but I didn’t have time to play. I had to concentrate on marking my territory and it was a very big park.

I marked all the way around on the fence. I marked some of the chairs where the Human Beings were sitting. I marked the trees. I marked the bushes. I tried to mark a big Canine Dog that came to see me but he was on the other side of the fence. I marked two people.

Anxiety is the brain’s way of trying to keep us alive. It wants us to be safe and so it looks for anything and everything that may not work, could be a problem, might be dangerous.

For most people who have anxiety “disorders” their minds are always working, scanning their physical, mental and emotional environments: A non-stop cacophony of thoughts , trying to avoid difficulty, figuring out something that doesn’t make sense . . . day and night; An adaptive mechanism in overdrive.

If I read enough I will FINALLY understand how to relax, organize, optimize my health, wealth, knowledge and time. So I spend hours googling, oogling the glut of information on the internet. There is an overwhelming world of seemingly infinite information, suggestions, apps and opinions.

In my paperless office I print out an overwhelming number of copies of the

“important” information I NEED to keep.

The ubiquitous availability of E-mail, text messaging is a miraculous, mind-numbing, overwhelming demand for instant response.

David http://wordcoaster.wordpress.com* has enhancedthe traditional haiku form. These 3 haiku are dedicated to him. (Well, the first one isn’t a haiku, it’s a plea, the second & third ones are Reversed-Engineered.

Come on baby

Rescue me

from myself

What are REVERSED-ENGINEERED Haiku?

“I think perhaps a “reverse-engineered haiku” (if it really WAS a form) would perhaps be three lines of 7-5-7 syllables? Or maybe would be written backwards? Hmm…might have to try one of those out.” David

David, here’s an attempt at the two forms of Reverse-Engineered Haiku YOU inspired:

Rewind, re-verse my per-verse

broken haiku form.

Rescue me creatively

* * *

All fault David for

haiku engineered reverse.

For it’s David’s fault*

P.S. David is obviously “prone” to cheating . . . . or as he says, enhancing . . . as EVIDENCED by his bio on his very own blog:

With nerves of iron

the crackling pain, hissing pain

seers its brand on brain

FINALLY! the reason I did not become an engineer, CPA or nuclear physicist and had to take graduate level statistic three (count ’em, 3) times – I have an avoidant personality. Here’s proof:

Written by Kelly Fitzgerald“Worry about math can trigger regions of the brain associated with the experience of physical pain and instinctive risk detection, according to a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Chicago and published in PLOS ONE.”

“Ian Lyons and his team of researchers discovered that in people who experience high levels of anxiety when anticipating math tasks, encountering math increases activity in regions of the brain connected with the feeling of physical pain. The more elevated a person’s math anxiety, the greater the appearance of neural activity is.”

“The fMRI scans showed the worry of upcoming math events triggered a response in the brain similar to physical pain. (What about WORRY of any kind? Now I’m worried that the researchers have missed the broader picture)* The higher the anxiety about math, the more math anticipation activated the posterior insula,a piece of tissue deep in the brain located above the ear, and is connected to acknowledging threats to the body as well as physical pain.”

“Earlier studies have indicated that other forms of psychological stress, like a traumatic break-up, or social rejection, can also cause feelings of physical pain. However, this particular study analyzes the pain response connected with anticipating an anxiety-inducing event, instead of the pain connected to the stressful event itself.” (How about anticipating an anxiety-inducing event, like ANTICIPATING EXPERIENCING PAIN!)*

“The authors conclude that their findings suggest that it is not the act of performing a mathematical task that prompts this response, but rather the anticipation of math.”(They didn’t need to do all that research. I could have told them when I was in grade school)

“These results give a possible neural platform for the observation that people with high math anxiety are more likely to avoid math-related situations, (balancing my check book) like math classes and math-related careers. Therefore, avoidance comes from experiencing this painful anxiety.”

If I EVER get the opportunity to travel to India I want to go for the Festival of Dwali. Here’s why!

“Diwali is one of the biggest festival of Hindus, celebrated with great enthusiasm and happiness in India.The festival is celebrated for five continuous days,Different colorful varieties of fireworks are always associated with this festival. On this auspicious day, people light up diyas and candles all around their house.They perform Laxmi Puja in the evening and seek divine blessings of Goddess of Wealth.The festival of Diwali is never complete without exchange of gifts. (I like it already!) People present diwali gifts to all near and dear ones.

Stars Shine in Silence

Stars shine in silence

Festival of lights; rhythmic Earth dances to the beats of cosmic heart

Beats of cosmic heart; none struggles to choose joy on festival of lights..

Festival of lights illuminated earth turns a decked-up bride.

The name “Diwali” is a contraction of “Deepavali” (Sanskrit: दीपावली Dīpāvalī), which translates into “row of lamps”.[5] Diwali involves the lighting of small clay lamps (diyas or dīpas) in Sanskrit: दीप) filled with oil to signify the triumph of good over evil. (Now that is GOOD )During Diwali, all the celebrants wear new clothes (more good) and share sweets and snacks (Getting even better) with family members and friends.”

Preparing firecrackers

“On the first day of Diwali, housewives consider it auspicious to spring clean the home(not so sure about this one) and shop for gold(Excellent!) or kitchen utensils.(“OR” kitchen utensils? I know what I’d be shopping for)

On the second day, people decorate their homes with clay lamps or diyas and create design patterns called rangoli on the floor using colored powders or sand.

The third day is the main day of the festival when families gather together for Lakshmi puja, a prayer to Goddess Lakshmi followed by mouth-watering feasts and firework festivities.

The fourth day is the first day of the new year when friends and relatives visit with gifts and best wishes for the season.

On the last day of Diwali, brothers visit their married sisters who welcome them with love and a lavish meal.

“Even today in this modern world it projects the rich and glorious past of India and teaches us to uphold the true values of life. “

Are Those Spidery Black Things On Mars Dangerous? (Maybe)

by ROBERT KRULWICH

“You are 200 miles directly above the Martian surface— looking down. This image was taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on Jan. 27, 2010. (The color was added later.) What do we see? Well, sand, mostly. As you scroll down, there’s a ridge crossing through the image, then a plain, then dunes, but keep looking. You will notice, when you get to the dunes, there are little black flecks dotting the ridges, mostly on the sunny side, like sunbathing spiders sitting in rows. Can you see them?”

“What are those things?They were first seen in 1998; they don’t look like anything we have here on Earth. To this day, no one is sure what they are, but we now know this: They come, then they go. Every Martian spring, they appear out of nowhere, showing up — 70 percent of the time — where they were the year before. They pop up suddenly, sometimes overnight. When winter comes, they vanish.”

Like this:

Leave me not behind

In memories of your mind

Please forget-me-not

Forget-Me-Not Flowers

In a German legend, God named all the plants when a tiny unnamed one cried out, “Forget-me-not, O Lord!” God replied, “That shall be your name.”

Remembrance

Prior to becoming the tenth province of Canada in 1949, Newfoundland (then a separate British Dominion) used the Forget-me-not as a symbol of remembrance of that nation’s war dead. This practice is still in limited use today, though Newfoundlanders have adopted the Flanders Poppy as well.

Freemasons began using the flower in 1926 as a symbol well known in Germany as message not to forget the poor and desperate. Many other German charities were also using it at this time. In later years, by a handful of Masons, it was a means of recognition in place of the square and compass design. This was done across Nazi occupied Europe to avoid any danger of being singled out and persecuted.

The symbol of the forget-me-not in modern Masonry has become more prevalent and exaggerated claims about the use of the symbol are often made in order to promote sales of bumper stickers of the symbol. Today it is an interchangeable symbol with Freemasonry and some also use the Forget-me-not to remember those masons who were victimized by the Nazi regime. In English Freemasonry it is more commonly now worn to remember those that have died as a symbol that you may be gone but not forgotten.

Literature

Henry David Thoreau wrote, “The moose-ear forget-me-not, Myosotis laxa, has now extended its racemes very much, and hangs over the edge of the brook. It is one of the most interesting minute flowers. It is the more beautiful for being small and unpretending; even flowers must be modest.”[7]

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling when Harry Potter first meets Professor Lockhart, Professor Lockhart “…was wearing robes of forget-me-not blue that exactly matched his eyes…” (chapter four page 59 of the 1999 American edition).

Fight between heart, head stay true to the ancient forms or flow into now?

There’s “reflection” going on in Haiku land that mirrors a universal struggle – maintain traditional forms or create change. Leo is the host of Haiku-Heights so it’s his call. And he votes for preserving the traditional haiku form. I respect that.

Here’s another point of view (mine, of course!)

Haiku_Heights@blogspot.com

I’m biased. My life has been devoted to creative CHANGE.

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”

I doubt if Freud would still be practicing “Freudian Therapy” or Shakespeare would be writing in iambic pentameter or use “thee” and “thou”. I think Picasso would still be stretching the boundaries of paint and Henry Ford would be implanting computer chips in horses (well, maybe not horses – but you get the idea).

In YOUR life what do you preserve intact from the past

and what do you creatively change?

It’s not a frivolous question as it ultimately informs who we are and how we “do” life.

Like this:

Many months ago I participated in Haiku-Heights month-long challenge – to write and post a haiku every day for a month. On day 31 I found myself at Haiku-Low and never thought I’d write another haiku again.

If you don’t know what a haiku is here’s the explanation from Haiku-Heights.

“Haiku is Japanese poetry form that has three meaningful lines which are complete and reflecting nature.

Haiku have syllabic limitations as well. A traditional one has eleven or seventeen syllables, in a strict 3-5-3 or 5-7-5 format.”

“We (Haiku-Heights) wish to celebrate the haikai forms through your words. Some poets are straying away from the Haiku format so kindly stay within the Haiku limitations. I know it is difficult but very challenging too!!”

Now, it’s possible that Haiku-Heights might think I’ve strayed but I want to assure Leo that my haiku reflects nature – the nature of man and is VERY meaningful . . . to me.

P.S. I suspect that Leo who hosts Haiku-Heights has figured out it’s best just to humor me hoping that one day I might turn into a more serious poet.

Like this:

“…Your treasure–your perfection–is within you already. But to claim it, you must leave the busy commotion of the mind and abandon the desires of the ego and enter into the silence of the heart…” Elizabeth Gilbert, “Eat, Pray, Love”

This is all probably too convoluted for a post but here goes a try.

Haiku-Heightsposted the Saturday prompt -” illusion”. I spontaneously and quickly wrote the Haiku below and then have labored how to express what prompted me BEHIND the “illusion” prompt.

I always smile inwardly when I hear “We need to live in the moment”. Think about it! We can ONLY LIVE IN THE MOMENT. It’s just our conscious mind busy IN THE MOMENT worrying or thinking about the past or the future – our ego defining what we want, what we need. Our ego deciding what is fair and thereby defining who we are.

Translation: Our perception of time and who we are, everything we think about ourselves is an illusion…it is our ego at work.

We are creatures of two worlds. We make our way through this physical plane while having an innate sense of an invisible realm – something outside our conscious ego. I think that the sense there’s something “more” comes as a sense of longing. A yearning which we try to fill with relationships, possessions, things of the world. But no matter what STUFF we try to fill it with, the void is still there.

Translation: Reality is in the background patiently waiting for us to turn our focus inward, beyond our thoughts. When we choose to focus on this moment, and Be CONSCIOUSLY Present (like when we meditate) we can get a glimpse … of our real self, our spirit and let go of our ego. (Easier said than done)

As I grow older the void grows smaller the more I consciously try to live less from ego and a more spiritual life. Hopefully, that too isn’t an illusion.

Believe it or not

Everything’s an illusion

Except God in all

It’s no illusion All are connected Accept God or not

…If you can recognize illusion as illusion, it dissolves. The recognition of illusion is also it’s ending. Its survival depends on your mistaking it for reality. In the seeing of who you are not, the reality of who you are emerges by itself…” -Eckhart Tolle,( A New Earth)

“When you wish to reflect upon or consider a matter you consult something within you….Surely there is a distinct power, a distinct ego. Were it not distinct from your ego you would not be consulting it. It is greater than the faculty of thought. It is your spirit which teaches you, which inspires and decides upon matters. ” (Abdu’l Baha’i: Baha’i Scriptures, p. 365)

“Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world.” Hans Margolius

Been working on some preliminary doodle-sketches for Ramesh’s Poem about the Love Affair Between an Elephant and an Ant.

Ramesh is so creative (and wonderfully quirky) to have dreamt up a relationship between such disparate souls! But his charming haiku and poem about this unlikely pair captured my attention and my heart.

Here’s a sample of the poetry prelude to Elephant and ANT to whet your taste for more!

Here are the words for those of you who don’t want to hear the wonderfully joyous rendition of:

I Got Rhythm by George Gershwin

Days can be sunny
With never a sigh,
Don’t need what money
Can buy.
Birds in the tree sing
Their dayful of song.
Why shouldn’t we sing
Along?
I’m chipper all the day,
Happy with my lot.
How did I get that way?
Look at what I’ve got.

I got rhythm,
I got music,
I got my man —
Who could ask for anything more?
I got daisies
In green pastures,
I got my man —
Who could ask for anything more?
I got daisies
In green pastures,
I got my man —
Who could ask for anything more?

Old man trouble,
I don’t mind him —
You won’t find him
‘Round my door

I got starlight,
I got sweet dreams,
I got my man —
Who could ask for anything more —
Who could ask for anything more?!

Old man trouble,
I don’t mind him
You won’t find him Polly
‘Round my door Oh…
I got rhythm,
I got music,
I got my man —
Who could ask for anything more? Oh…
I got daisies
In green pastures
I got my man —
Who could ask for anything more?
Who could ask for anything more?!
Who could ask for anything more?!

P.S. I may not respond to everyone’s comment every time as I’m trying to figure out how to better “pace” myself. (My tempo was much too fast last year.) Please know that I read EVERY SINGLE ONE! (As a matter of fact they can’t get posted unless I read and approve.)